William A.Williamson,believed to be the oldest resident in Belle Vernon,died Monday,Dec.26,1988,in Monongahela Valley Hospital,Carroll Twp.,at the age o101,just six months shy of his 102nd birthday. Up until the past several weeks,his health had been good and he was hospitalized one week ago. Born June 3,1887,in Midway,Washington County,Mr.Williamson was the eighth in a family of 16 children. A resident of Belle Vernon Apartments,Mr.Williamson was well known in the mid-Monongahela Valley,having served as a greeter at the Shelby Ferguson Funeral Home,finally retiring from that position after nearly 30 years. That was only one of 14 different jobs he worked at during his lifetime,doing everything from handling a team of horses,industrial jobs,selling cars and furniture. He has been collecting Social Security benefits for more that 36 years,officially retiring at the age of 65 from the Melenyzer Furniture Store in Charleroi. During his more than 101 years,Mr.Williamson saw much history. In 1887,his birth year,there were just 45 states in the union with a population of 76 million. The federal treasury then had a surplus of $46 million. Congressmen were paid $5,000 a year;the vice-president,$8,000,and the president,$50,000. Life expectancy then was 46.3 years and a worker earned 22 cents an hour during a 50 hour work-week. In 1905 he was an apprentice machinist at Westinghouse,earning 18 cents an hour. He lived through the terms of 19 U.S.Presidents and 24 Pennsylvania governors. One of the first to claim a driver's license when automobiles gained popularity,he stopped driving at the age of 95. Rarely seriuosly ill during his lifetime,he even escaped an epidemic that took two sons,Robert and Jack,then nine and five years old,who died a week apart in 1916. At the age of 20,he married Eva Young,then the daughter of a fire boss in the Pricedale mine,herself only 18. When his wife died suddenly in 1978 at the age of 89,they had been married for 71 years. He was the last survivor of that original Williamson family of 16,born to the late Samuel and Hannah Williamson. Even an adopted brother has died. Survivors include two daughters,Mrs.Joseph (Jean) Grant of Broadman,Ohio,and Mrs.Mitchell (Hope) Steen of Dunlevy. Also surviving are three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was a member of the Pricedale Union Church. Friends are being received Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m.and Wednesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.in the Ferguson Funeral Home,Inc.,700 Broad Ave.,Belle Vernon. Funeral services will be held in the funeral home Thursday,Dec.29,at 11 a.m.,with Pastor David R.Reeves Jr.,of Union Church of Pricedale officiating. Interment will be in Belle Vernon Cemetery. The Ferguson Funeral Home,Inc.,is in charge of arrangements.
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